Currently, members of UK registered pension schemes can claim tax relief on their personal contributions at their highest marginal rate. This means that basic rate taxpayers receive 20% relief, higher rate taxpayers receive up to 40% and additional rate taxpayers receive up to 50%.

From 6 April 2012, money purchase schemes will no longer be able to contract out of the State Second Pension. In addition, the restrictions that apply to protected rights will fall away and protected rights can be treated the same as non-protected rights. This means theoretically that members will just have one pot of money known as ordinary rights.

Defined benefit schemes and mixed benefit schemes that are contracted out on a salary related basis will not be affected and therefore can remain contracted out for the foreseeable future.

One in five mums are missing out meals so they can feed their children, according to a survey by Netmums. The parenting website questioned over 2,000 of its members and found that 61 per cent of families are short of money every week, with a third requiring an extra £50 to get by.

Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous taxation – or to take arms against them by making a personal contribution or using salary sacrifice? That is the question that is exercising our mind as we speak to clients with incomes above the £100,000 level.

New figures reveal that ten per cent of people in the UK who had planned to retire this year have decided to continue working. Prudential’s ‘Class of 2012’ research shows that, while 32 per cent are deferring retirement out of choice, some 68 per cent say that it is because they cannot afford to retire yet.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) indicated in a recent report that the UK economy is probably already in recession, with negative GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The CEBR has also revised down its forecast for growth for 2012 as a whole, from 0.7% growth as predicted last October, to a decline of 0.4% with a risk of a more serious decline of 1.1% if developments in the Euro zone are especially negative.

First-time buyers have made savings totalling £319 million thanks to the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday. Since March 2010, first-time buyers have been able to claim relief from SDLT on properties valued under £250,000.

More first-time buyers have been entering the property market as they look to take advantage of the final few months before the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday ends on March 24th

An increasing number of new cash ISA products are being sold with additional interest as a bonus percentage, usually for no more than the first year. Investors who do not review their ISA holdings on at least a yearly basis may find that a later interest yield is dramatically less that they expected. Some people with ISA investments believe that it is not easy or even possible to transfer their ISAs from one provider to another.

What makes a house buyer choose to buy a particular house? What do they have in mind when they look at houses to buy? If, for whatever reason, you are determined to sell your property, you can’t dwell on the state of the house sales market, even if it is sluggish or saturated with unsold houses. You can only do your best to sell yours, either at the price you require, or by going for the appeal of an irresistible, and costly for you, bargain!

Many house owners now feel let down and cheated by what has happened to house prices since October 2007. Some house owners who were house buyers just before the end of 2007, may have the right to be very unhappy if they bought at the peak of a booming housing market, which then took a nose-dive before flattening out at a below-peak price level – they may now be suffering the draining effects of negative-equity.

The UK unemployment rate is at its highest level since 1995, according to the latest figures. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that for the three months to December 2011, 8.4 per cent of the economically active population was out of work.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) says that ‘total’ unemployment stands at 6.3 million, based on the US’s U6 measure.This figure includes unemployed people, as well as discouraged, marginally attached and under-employed workers and represents its highest level since records began in 1993.

New figures show that four in ten Britons do not have a savings account. A survey of 2,064 adults by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that many British consumers do not appear to be preparing for the future.

The number of households ‘surviving’ each month has increased, according to a new survey.Legal & General’s latest MoneyMood Survey reveals that the number of ‘surviving’ households – those whose income covers bills and debt – has increased by 1.47 million since last year.

A new survey has revealed that there are stark differences in financial situations between households across different regions.Legal & General’s latest MoneyMood research reveals that the number of homes struggling to meet bills each month is much higher in Scotland and the West Midlands than other areas of the UK, such as Wales and East Anglia.

Are you thinking of supporting your children to go to university? If you are starting a family or have a young family and are thinking that university should be where your children will go when they leave school, in say – 18 years time, then now is the time to face up to the reality of the likely cost.

Last year, 17 per cent of people in Great Britain sought the help of a professional financial adviser. The results of a survey of 2,064 adults were published this week in the ‘Consumer Awareness of the FSA and Financial Regulation’ report, compiled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

A new survey has revealed that 23 per cent of people do not own an insurance product.A survey of 2,064 adults as part of the ‘Consumer Awareness of the FSA and Financial Regulation’ report compiled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed that British adults are most likely to own a motor insurance product (57 per cent).

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and the Pensions Institute (PI) at Cass Business School published a joint report early in 2012, suggesting that around half a million people retiring each year are being short-changed by up to £1bn from their total future pension income, because overwhelming obstacles stop them getting the best deal within the annuity market.